If you are using WMC as a DVR don't upgrade to Windows 10

[king3pj]

http://www.ign.com/articles/2015/05...-media-center?abthid=5548beed7a6d9e1723000006

Like the thread title says, if you are using Windows Media Center as a DVR don't take the free upgrade to Windows 10. With Windows 8 they stopped including WMC for free so I had to pay $10 to get it. That felt like a reasonable cost. Now with Windows 10 it is not included and there will be no way to buy it either. Even if you already bought the add-on to get it on Windows 8 you still lose WMC when you upgrade to Windows 10.

 

[StevenD]

Looks like my HTPCs will stay Win 8.1 until it completely dies.

"Windows 8.1 falls under the same lifecycle policy as Windows 8, and will reach end of Mainstream Support on January 9, 2018, and end of Extended Support on January 10, 2023. "

I wonder how long Guide Data will stick around.

 

[mdavej]

Sad news, but not unexpected. I'll keep rolling with my Win 7 WMC setup for several more years, hopefully. Silicon Dust and apparently Ceton are working on alternatives as we speak. WMC is still the best free DVR available. You can always just run your current setup in a VM in Win 10 as well and get the best of both worlds.

Even if they pull the plug on guide data before 2023, we already have a few alternatives for guide data that many in Europe have been using for years (Big Screen EPG, etc.).

 

[DRCars]

.......
Even if they pull the plug on guide data before 2023, we already have a few alternatives for guide data that many in Europe have been using for years (Big Screen EPG, etc.).

I have seen the Big Screen EPG. It doesn't appear to be a data source just a data importer. What other alternatives ("etc") are you referring to?

DRCars

 

[mdavej]

I have seen the Big Screen EPG. It doesn't appear to be a data source just a data importer. What other alternatives ("etc") are you referring to?

DRCars

I haven't really looked into it that much, but Schedules Direct comes to mind. Officially isn't supposed to be used in commercial products like WMC, but many do use it for that. All guide format details have been published by Microsoft, so you could probably even roll your own if you were so inclined. I'm sure many new solutions will pop up when the time comes.

The ultimate solution will probably be the DVR Silicon Dust is developing or the rumored Xbox One DVR.

Personally I'm not going to worry about it until the guide data stops, which will likely be several years from now.